Shunt connectors are known which electrically connect two post terminals of a mating connector to allow commoning therebetween. One such shunt connector is manufactured by AMP do Brasil of Sao Paulo, Brazil under Part No. 880584-1 and comprises an integral stamped metal part contained in a dielectric housing. The shunt has two pairs of long cantilever beams extending from a body section which when the shunt is secured in the housing are disposed in respective housing cavities and extend toward a mating face of the housing, and the beam pairs are spaced at 0.100 inch centerlines. Each pair receives a terminal post thereinto with the beams deflected outwardly when the post is inserted into the respective housing cavity during mating, and the beams are inward smooth projections which comprise contact surfaces for firmly engaging sides of the post for assured electrical connection. The shunt is insertable into the housing from the front on top of a ledge separating the two cavities, and the shunt's body section is disposed near the back of the housing, secured in place by a forwardly and upwardly extending lance which is struck up from the body section by tooling after insertion to extend and latch in a corresponding housing latch recess. The tooling is insertable through an opening in the bottom housing wall. The outline of the lance is cut into the body section, but is essentially not struck out of the plane until after insertion. In order to reduce the size of the shunt and still maintain the beam length thereof which has provided proven performance, the body section would have to be substantially smaller which would make the prior art retention system unreliable. While the shunt connector is only about 0.4 inches long, it is desired in the industry to have a shunt connector having an axial length of only about 0.2 inches. It also includes a sizable pull tab extending rearwardly from the housing which increases the length almost another 0.200 inches thereto.